Rooney made his senior international debut in 2003, becoming the youngest player to represent England (a record since broken by Theo Walcott). He is England's youngest ever goalscorer. He played at UEFA Euro 2004 and scored four goals, briefly becoming the competition's youngest goalscorer. Rooney featured at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups and is widely regarded as his country's best player. He has won the England Player of the Year award twice, in 2008 and 2009. As of June 2013, he has won 83 international caps and scored 36 goals, making him England's fifth highest goalscorer in history. Along with David Beckham, Rooney is the most red carded player for England, having been sent off twice.

Aged nine, Rooney joined the youth team of Everton, for whom he made his professional debut in 2002. He spent two seasons at the Merseyside club, before moving to Manchester United for £25.6 million in the 2004 summer transfer window. The same year, Rooney acquired the nickname "Wazza". Since then, with Rooney in the team, United have won the Premier League four times, the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League and two League Cups. He also holds two runner-up medals from the Champions League and has twice finished second in the Premier League. In April 2012, Rooney scored his 180th goal, making him United's fourth-highest goal-scorer of all time.

In 2009–10, Rooney was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year. He has won the Premier League Player of the Month award five times, a record he shares with Steven Gerrard. He came fifth in the vote for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or and was named in the FIFPro World 11 for 2011. Rooney has won the ' Goal of the Season' award by the BBC's Match of the Day poll on three occasions, with his bicycle kick against rivals Manchester City winning the 'Premier League Goal of the 20 Seasons' award. Rooney is the third highest-paid footballer in the world after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, with an annual income of €20.7 million (£18 million) including sponsorship deals.

Early life

Rooney was born in Croxteth, Liverpool to Thomas Wayne and Jeanette Marie (née Morrey) Rooney. He is of Irish descent and was brought up as a Roman Catholic with younger brothers Graham and John; all three attended Our Lady and St Swithin's primary school and the De La Salle Humanities College. He grew up supporting his local club Everton.

Club career

Everton

Youth squads

Rooney began playing for Liverpool Schoolboys and until May 2010 he held the record of 72 goals scored in one season. At age nine, Rooney played for Copplehouse boys' club in the local Walton and Kirkdale junior league and scored 99 goals in his final season before being spotted by Everton scout Bob Pendleton. Rooney joined Everton at age nine, and was the Everton mascot for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool as an 11-year-old. In the 1995–96 season he scored 114 goals in 29 games for Everton's under-10s and 11s, and by 15 years old he was playing for the under-19s. He scored eight goals in eight games during Everton's run to the FA Youth Cup final in 2002. This included one goal in the final defeat against Aston Villa and upon scoring he revealed a T-shirt that read, "Once a Blue, always a Blue." Rooney was included in the first team squad for their training camp in Austria in the summer of 2002 and scored his first senior goal in a 3–1 friendly victory over SC Weiz on 15 July.

First team breakthrough

"Rooney is the biggest England talent I've seen since I arrived in England. There has certainly not been a player under 20 as good as him since I became a manager here."

– Arsène Wenger on Rooney following his last-minute goal against Arsenal in October 2002.

Rooney was an unused substitute in Everton's 1–0 away win over Southampton in April 2002. His senior debut came the following season on 17 August in a 2–2 home draw against Tottenham, at this time he became the second youngest first-team player in Everton history behind Joe Royle. His first senior goals came on 2 October as he scored twice in a 3–0 away win over Wrexham in the League Cup. These goals meant that Rooney was Everton's youngest-ever goalscorer at the time. On 19 October, five days before his 17th birthday, Rooney scored a last-minute winning goal against Arsenal. This goal ended Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten run, and also made Rooney the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, a record that has since been surpassed twice by both James Milner and James Vaughan. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win over Leeds United fifteen days later.

In December, Rooney was named 2002's BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year. Six days on from claiming this award he scored the winning goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 home win. His first career red-card came on boxing day in a 1–1 away draw against Birmingham City for a late challenge on Steve Vickers. In January 2003, Rooney signed his first professional contract which made him one of world football's highest-paid teenagers. Rooney's first goal in 2003 came on 23 March, netting Everton's only goal in a 2–1 loss at Arsenal. In April, he scored a goal in Everton's 2–1 home win over Newcastle United, before hitting a last-minute winner against Aston Villa in another 2–1 home win. He ended his debut season with 8 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for the Toffees.

Rooney scored his first goal of the 2003–04 season in a 2–2 away draw against Charlton on 26 August 2003. He did not find the net again until December when he scored in a 2–1 away win over Portsmouth, and a 3–2 home win over Leicester City. His final goal of 2003 came on his 50th league appearance, netting the only goal in a 1–0 home win over Birmingham on 28 December. On 21 February 2004, Rooney netted his first Premier League brace in a 3–3 away draw against Southampton. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 13 March, before scoring in a 1–1 away draw against Leicester City one week later. He scored his final goal of the season in a 1–1 away draw against Leeds United on 13 April.

Manchester United

2004–05 season

Rooney's agent snubbed a three-year, £12,000-a-week contract offer from Everton in August 2004, leaving Manchester United and Newcastle United to compete for his signature. Everton rejected a bid of £20 million from Newcastle, and Manchester United ultimately won the bidding war with Rooney signing for them at the end of the month after a £25.6 million deal with Everton was reached. It was the highest fee ever paid for a player under 20 years old; Rooney was still only 18 when he left Everton.

Rooney was given the number 8 shirt upon his arrival at Old Trafford. He made his United debut on 28 September in a 6–2 home win over Fenerbahçe in the Champions League, scoring a hat-trick and laying on an assist. These goals made Rooney the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the Champions League aged 18 years 335 days. However, his first season with Manchester United ended without winning a trophy as they could only manage a third place finish in the league, and failed to progress to the last eight of the Champions League. United had more success in the cup competitions, but were edged out of the League Cup in the semi finals by a Chelsea side who also won the Premier League title that season, and a goalless draw with Arsenal in the FA Cup final was followed by a penalty shoot-out defeat. However, Rooney was United's top league scorer that season with 11 goals, and was credited with the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

2005–07

Rooney during United's 3–1 win over Manchester City in the derby, in which he scored the game's first goal.

In September 2005, Rooney was sent off in a Champions League clash with Villarreal of Spain (which ended in a goalless draw) for sarcastically clapping the referee who had booked him for an unintentional foul on an opponent. His first trophy with United came in the 2006 League Cup, and he was also named man of the match after scoring twice in United's 4–0 win over Wigan Athletic in the final. In the Premier League, however, an erratic start to the season left title glory looking unlikely for United and their title hopes were ended in late April when they lost 3–0 away to champions Chelsea and had to settle for second place. Rooney sustained a broken metatarsal in that game after a tackle made by Paulo Ferreira. Rooney's goalscoring further improved in the 2005–06 season, as he managed 16 goals in 36 Premier League games.

Rooney was sent off in an Amsterdam Tournament match against Porto on 4 August 2006 after hitting Porto defender Pepe with an elbow. He was punished with a three-match ban by the FA, following their receipt of a 23-page report from referee Ruud Bossen that explained his decision. Rooney wrote a letter of protest to the FA, citing the lack of punishment handed down to other players who were sent off in friendlies. He also threatened to withdraw the FA's permission to use his image rights if they did not revoke the ban, but the FA had no power to make such a decision.

During the first half of the 2006–07 season, Rooney ended a ten-game scoreless streak with a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers, and he signed a two-year contract extension the next month that tied him to United until 2012. By the end of April, a combination of two goals in an 8–3 aggregate quarter-final win over Roma and two more in a 3–2 semi-final first leg victory over Milan. By the end of that season, he had scored 14 league goals. Rooney collected his first Premier League title winner's medal at the end of the 2006–07 season.

2007–09

Rooney in a February 2008 match against Arsenal

In June 2007, Rooney was handed number 10, last worn by Ruud van Nistelrooy. He fractured his left metatarsal in United's opening-day goalless draw against Reading on 12 August, the same injury he had suffered to his right foot in 2004. After being sidelined for six weeks, he returned for United's 1–0 Champions League group stage win over Roma on 2 October, scoring the match's only goal. However, barely a month into his return, Rooney injured his ankle during a training session on 9 November, and missed an additional two weeks. His first match back was against Fulham on 3 December, in which he played 70 minutes. Rooney missed a total of ten games and finished the 2007–08 season with 18 goals (12 of them in the league), as United clinched both the Premier League and the Champions League, in which they defeated league rivals Chelsea in the competition's first-ever all-English final.

Rooney takes on Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets of Barcelona during the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final.

On 4 October 2008 in an away win over Blackburn Rovers, Rooney became the youngest player in league history to make 200 appearances. On 14 January after scoring the only goal of the game 54 seconds into the 1–0 win over Wigan Athletic, Rooney limped off with a hamstring ailment in the eighth minute. His replacement, Carlos Tévez, was injured himself shortly after entering the game, but stayed on. Rooney was out for three weeks, missing one match apiece in the League Cup and FA Cup, along with four Premier League matches. On 25 April 2009, Rooney scored his final league goals of the season against Tottenham. United scored five goals in the second half to come from 2–0 down to win 5–2. Rooney grabbed two goals, set up two and provided the assist that led to the penalty for United's first goal. Rooney ended the season with 20 goals in all competitions. Once again, he managed 12 goals in the league.

2009–10 season

Rooney's start to the new campaign got off to great scoring ways, grabbing a goal in the 90th minute of the 2009 Community Shield, though United lost the game to Chelsea on penalties. He then scored the only goal of the opening game of the 2009–10 season against Birmingham City, taking his overall United tally to 99. He failed to score in the next game, a historic 1–0 defeat to the hands of newly promoted Burnley at Turf Moor. On 22 August, he became the 20th Manchester United player to have scored at least 100 goals for the club, when he found the net twice in a 5–0 away win at Wigan Athletic.

Rooney in a November 2009 match against Everton

On 29 August, United played Arsenal at Old Trafford. Rooney scored the equaliser from the penalty spot after Andrei Arshavin had put the Gunners ahead. The game finished 2–1 to Manchester United after Abou Diaby scored an own goal. Five days later Rooney commented on his penalty against Arsenal: "Everyone who watches me play knows I am an honest player, I play the game as honestly as I can. If the referee gives a penalty there is nothing you can do." On 28 November 2009, Rooney scored his first hat-trick for three years in a 4–1 away victory against Portsmouth, with two of them being penalties. On 27 December 2009, he was awarded Man of the Match against Hull City. He was involved in all the goals scored in the game, hitting the opener and then giving away the ball for Hull's equalising penalty. He then forced Andy Dawson into conceding an own goal and then set up Dimitar Berbatov for United's third goal which gave them a 3–1 victory. On 30 December 2009, three days on from their victory over Hull, he grabbed another goal in United's 5–0 thrashing of Wigan in their final game of the decade. On 23 January 2010, Rooney scored all four goals in Manchester United's 4–0 win over Hull City; three of the goals came in the last 10 minutes of the match. This was the first time in his career that he bagged four in one match. On 27 January 2010, he continued his scoring run by heading the winner in the second minute of stoppage time against derby rivals Manchester City. This gave United a 4–3 aggregate win, taking them into the final, it was his first League Cup goal since netting two in the 2006 final. On 31 January 2010, Rooney scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Arsenal for the first time in the league at the Emirates, notably his first Premier League goal also came against Arsenal. On 16 February 2010, Rooney hit his first European goals of the season, scoring two headers in the 3–2 away win against Milan in Manchester United's first ever win against them at the San Siro. On 28 February 2010, he scored another header against Aston Villa (his fifth consecutive headed goal in a row) which resulted in Manchester United winning the League Cup final 2–1. In the second leg of United's European tie against Milan, Rooney scored a brace in a resounding 4–0 home victory, taking his tally of goals this season to 30. He then added two more to his tally five days later at Old Trafford, in a 3–0 league win over Fulham.

On 30 March 2010, during United's Champions League quarter-final first leg defeat against Bayern Munich at Munich's Allianz Arena, Rooney crumpled when he twisted his ankle in the last minute, hobbling off while Bayern were producing the build up that led to their second goal. There were fears that he had received serious ligament damage or even a broken ankle, but it was announced that the injury was only slight ligament damage, and that he would be out for 2 to 3 weeks, missing United's crunch match with Chelsea and the return leg against Munich the following week. The team list for second leg yielded a massive surprise when Rooney was given a starting place in the United lineup. Despite a 3–0 lead by the 41st minute, Munich snatched a goal back and United were later forced down to 10 men after Rafael da Silva was sent-off. Munich won the match after netting a second away-goal and Rooney was substituted after re-damaging his ankle. On 25 April, Rooney was named the 2010 PFA Players' Player of the Year.

2010–11 season

On 28 August 2010, Rooney scored his first goal of the season as he netted a penalty in a 3–0 home win over West Ham United. In October, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stated at a press conference that Rooney wanted to quit the club. This came after a period of dispute as to the extent of Rooney's ankle injury, where Rooney had refuted Ferguson's claim that the injury was the reason Rooney had been dropped to the bench. Rooney and his representatives released a statement regarding his decision to leave the club, insisting it is not down to money but ambition. Following this statement, Rooney made a dramatic U-turn and agreed a new five-year contract at Manchester United until June 2015.

Rooney made his return to the first team as a substitute against Wigan on 20 November. Four days later he returned to the starting line-up and scored a penalty in a 1–0 away win over Rangers in the Champions League. He missed a penalty in a 1–0 home win over Arsenal on 13 December. His first goal of the season from open play came on 1 January 2011 in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albion. On 1 February, Rooney scored twice and assisted Nemanja Vidić's goal in a 3–1 home win over Aston Villa. On 12 February, Rooney scored an overhead volley in the 78th minute of the Manchester derby, which proved to be the winning goal in their 2–1 win over Manchester City. After the match, Rooney said it was the best goal of his career, before Sir Alex Ferguson described the strike as the best goal he has ever witnessed at Old Trafford. Two weeks later he scored the third goal in a 4–0 away win over Wigan, before opening the scoring in a 2–1 away loss to Chelsea on 1 March. Rooney scored the second goal in a 2–0 home win over Arsenal in an FA Cup tie on 12 March.

On 2 April, United came from two goals down as Rooney scored his first hat-trick of the season in a 4–2 away win over West Ham United. This was his fifth hat-trick for Manchester United, whilst the second goal was his 100th in the Premier League for the club. He is the third Manchester United player to score 100 Premier League goals, joining Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. During Rooney's celebrations following his third goal, he swore into a pitchside camera and was subsequently charged by the Football Association for using offensive language. Rooney accepted the charge, but not the automatic two-match ban which was handed to him. He appealed against the length of the suspension, calling it "excessive", but failed to overturn the two-match ban which ruled him out of the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 16 April. The following game on 6 April saw Rooney scored the only goal in a 1–0 away win against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. He followed this goal up with another strike in the semi-final first leg against German side Schalke on 26 April, scoring the second of a 2–0 away win. This was the first time Rooney had returned to the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen since his sending off during the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Portugal.

On 14 May 2011, Rooney successfully converted a penalty for United to equalise and give them a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in the penultimate game of the Premier League season – enough to secure a record 19th top division title for United, and giving Rooney his fourth Premier League title winner's medal.

2011–12 season

Rooney started the season with a goal in the first league game at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion. Rooney played a one-two with Ashley Young before a sharp turn and finish from outside the box which found the bottom corner of the goal. He also scored in the second game of the season, at home to Tottenham Hotspur, when he headed in a Ryan Giggs cross late in the game. In late August, Rooney scored his 150th goal for United, the first of a hat-trick, helping to demolish Arsenal 8–2. Rooney won man of the match, scoring two free kicks, a penalty, and also contributing an assist for Nani. He followed this up with another hat-trick in the next game; a 5–0 away win over Bolton Wanderers on 10 September, becoming only the fourth player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in consecutive games. These goals brought him level with Sir Bobby Charlton on seven United hat-tricks, joint fourth on the all-time list behind Denis Law, Jack Rowley and Dennis Viollet. Rooney scored in United's next game, a 3–1 home win over Chelsea but did miss a penalty in the second half when he slipped on his run up and skied the ball over. After revelations about his father in the media and the fallout from his red card against Montenegro on international duty, he was left out of the starting line-up against Liverpool on 15 October 2011. He returned to action on 18 October 2011, where he scored two goals in the group stage-match against Oțelul Galați and surpassed his former teammate Paul Scholes as the most-scoring Englishman in UEFA Champions League.

On 10 December, Rooney ended an 8 game goal drought with a brace against Wolves in a 4–1 win at Old Trafford. For the first goal he cut inside from the left and drilled in a low shot through the crowd of defenders. His second goal was assisted by Antonio Valencia who crossed the ball from the right wing and Rooney met it on the half volley to find the bottom right hand corner of the net. On 18 December, Rooney continued his goal scoring form heading home the opening goal against QPR, making it Manchester United's quickest goal of the season so far after just 52 seconds at Loftus Road. He was assisted by Antonio Valencia's cross. On 21 December, Rooney scored his 130th Premier League goal in his 300th Premier League appearance against Fulham at Craven Cottage with a long range effort that crashed in off the inside of the post in a 5–0 win. On 8 January, Rooney scored two goals in the FA Cup third round 3–2 away win against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. His first goal was assisted by Antonio Valencia who swung the ball towards the far post, where Rooney bulldozed between Nani and Richards powering a header against the underside of the crossbar and into the net. Danny Welbeck was involved in Rooney's second goal. He was needlessly scythed down by Aleksandar Kolarov inside the penalty area, prompting the clear penalty award. City's goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon saved the initial Rooney spot kick, but the United striker calmly nodded the rebound into the unguarded goal. With his two goals, Rooney went past Mark Hughes in United's all-time top goalscorers table heading up to seventh place overall with 164 goals. On 14 January, Rooney made a big contribution to his team in a 3–0 home win against Bolton. Although he had missed a penalty and almost found the net on a few occasions, he did create two goals by assisting Paul Scholes for the first goal and later in the second half Danny Welbeck for the second goal. On 5 February, Rooney scored two goals from the penalty spot as United came back from a 3–0 deficit to draw 3–3 in a Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Rooney lines up a free kick against Sunderland on the final day of the 2011–12 Premier League season.

On 11 February 2012, Rooney marked his 500th senior career game by scoring two goals as United beat rivals Liverpool 2–1 at Old Trafford. This was also his 350th game for United in all competitions. On 4 March Rooney scored the first goal in a 3–1 away win against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane and went past Joe Spence in Manchester United's all-time top goalscorers table heading up to sixth place overall with 169 goals. He scored another brace in his next game, against Atletico Bilbao in the Europa League. On 11 March Rooney scored the two goals that brought United the victory against West Bromwich Albion in a 2–0 home win. On 15 March, Rooney scored in the 2nd leg of the Europa League tie vs Athletic Bilbao in Bilbao despite United losing 2–1 on the night and 5–3 on aggregate.

Rooney accidentally broke 9-year-old fan Jamie Thomas' wrist with a stray shot before Manchester United's 5–0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 18 March 2012. Rooney was not aware of the incident at the time, but has apologised to the schoolboy and promised to send him a personalised gift.

2012–13 season

Despite starting the opening game of the season against Everton, Rooney was dropped to the bench for the second game against Fulham in favour of new signing Robin van Persie. After coming on for Shinji Kagawa in the 68th minute, Rooney suffered a severe gash to his right leg caused by Fulham's Hugo Rodallega that kept him out for four weeks. He made his come back on 29 September in a 3–2 loss against Tottenham. 3 days later he assisted both Robin van Persie goals in 2–1 win against CFR Cluj in the UEFA Champions League. He scored his first goals of the season in a 4–2 league win at home to Stoke City on 20 October, where he reached his 200th club goal. On 7 November, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal of the season, scoring a penalty in a 3–1 win against S.C. Braga. He scored twice and assisted a goal in a 4–3 win against Reading on 1 December. He scored a brace in the Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium on 9 December 2012 which United won 3–2. On 30 January 2013, he scored twice in a 2–1 win against Southampton. On 12 May, Sir Alex Ferguson announced after United's 2–1 win against Swansea City that Rooney had handed in his transfer request, a match in which Rooney also requested not to play.

2013-14 season

David Moyes has announced that Wayne Rooney is not for sale and is staying at Manchester United

International career

Rooney became the youngest player to play for England when he earned his first cap in a friendly against Australia on 12 February 2003 at seventeen, the same age at which he also became the youngest player to score an England goal. Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott broke Rooney's appearance record by 36 days in May 2006. This came after Wayne ignored calls from Irish supporters to play for the Republic of Ireland, whom he is eligible to play for due to his grandmother being born in Ireland.

His first tournament action was at Euro 2004, in which he became the youngest scorer in competition history on 17 June 2004, when he scored twice against Switzerland; however, this record was topped by Swiss midfielder Johan Vonlanthen four days later. Rooney suffered an injury in the quarter-final match against Portugal and England were eliminated on penalties.

Following a foot injury in an April 2006 Premier League match, Rooney faced a race to fitness for the 2006 World Cup. England attempted to hasten his recovery with the use of an oxygen tent, which allowed Rooney to enter a group match against Trinidad and Tobago and start the next match against Sweden. However, he never got back into game shape and went scoreless as England bowed out in the quarter-finals, again on penalty kicks.

Rooney training with England in September 2009

Rooney was red-carded in the 62nd minute of the quarter-final for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho as both attempted to gain possession of the ball, an incident that occurred right in front of referee Horacio Elizondo. Rooney's Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo openly protested his actions, and was in turn shoved by Rooney. Elizondo sent Rooney off, after which Ronaldo was seen winking at the Portugal bench. Rooney denied intentionally targeting Carvalho in a statement on 3 July, adding, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but I'm disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not teammates." Elizondo confirmed the next day that Rooney was dismissed solely for the infraction on Carvalho. Rooney was fined CHF5,000 for the incident.

Rooney top scored for England in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with 9 goals; one behind the UEFA section's overall top goalscorer, Theofanis Gekas of Greece. On 14 November 2009, Rooney captained England for the first time in a pre-tournament friendly with Brazil.

During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after England drew with Algeria, the England players were booed off the pitch by supporters. Rooney made a comment as he left the pitch to television cameras saying, "Nice to see your home fans boo you, that's loyal supporters". He later apologised for the comment made during a lacklustre tournament for England who were eliminated in the second round.

Rooney taking on the Italian defence at UEFA Euro 2012.

The Euro 2012 qualifications went well for England, as they qualified in first place of their group, winning five and drawing three games out of eight. Rooney scored three goals, one against Switzerland and two against Bulgaria. In the last qualifier against Montenegro (2–2), Rooney was sent off for a tackle on Miodrag Džudović in the 74th minute. At first, it was known that Rooney would miss at least one match in the opening round of the first phase at UEFA Euro 2012. After the game with Montenegro, Rooney sent a personal letter to UEFA in which he apologised and expressed regret for the tackle on Džudović which earned him the red card. Despite the letter, UEFA punished Rooney with a three game ban, meaning that he couldn't play in any of the group stage matches. After UEFA's announcement, Džudović stated that he believed the sentence for Rooney was too severe and that he would defend him if needed. He later asked the UEFA to pardon Rooney. The FA then decided they would appeal to UEFA against the ban. On 8 December 2011, after The FA had appealed the ban, UEFA reduced the sentence to two matches. This meant that Rooney missed the matches against France and Sweden. He was able to play in the final match of the group stage against Ukraine on 19 June 2012, scoring the only goal of the game, allowing England to progress to the quarterfinals. England were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals against Italy, who after a scoreless 120 minutes won 4–2 on penalties, although Rooney was able to net his spot-kick.

After another international tournament in which the Englsh media criticised Rooney's performances, Fabio Capello claimed Rooney "only plays well in Manchester" However, on 12 October 2012, Rooney became England's 5th highest goalscorer of all time after scoring his 30th and 31st international goals in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against San Marino. Rooney captained England for the first time in a competitive match in the same game. On 6 February 2013, Rooney scored in a 2-1 win against five-times world champions Brazil at Wembley in a friendly. In March he scored goals against San Marino and Montenegro in World Cup qualifying, before scoring against Brazil again in a 2-2 draw on 2 June, in the official re-opening of the refurbished Maracanã Stadium.

Goal of the Month (6): October 2003, January 2005, April 2005, January 2007, March 2007, February 2011

Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year (2): 2005–06, 2009–10

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year (1): 2002

Bravo Award (1): 2003

UEFA Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament

FIFPro World Young Player of the Year (1): 2004–05

Premier League Player of the Month (5): February 2005, December 2005, March 2006, October 2007, January 2010

Barclays Player of the Year (1): 2009–10

Premier League 20 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2011–12):

Best Goal (vs. Manchester City, 12 February 2011)

FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball (1): 2008

England Player of the Year (2): 2008, 2009

Golden Boot Landmark Award 20 (1): 2009–10

FIFA/FIFPro World XI (1): 2011

Personal life

In addition to Everton, Rooney also supports Celtic. He is also a big supporter of the Leeds Rhinos rugby league club

Rooney gave up boxing to pursue a career in football when he originally joined Everton, but he still uses boxing as a way to curb his temper.

In June 2011, he visited the Harley Street Hair Clinic and had a hair transplant.

It was announced in July 2011, that Wayne Rooney's jersey was the best-selling sports product that is under the auspices of the Premier League. Manchester United sold, during the 2009–10 season, between 1.2 million and one and a half million shirts and it is estimated that of that, Rooney's name was printed on several hundred thousand. The account is taken from official jerseys sales across the globe, not just in England.

Commercial interests

Rooney has endorsement deals with Nike (he is the face of their T90 Laser IV boots), Nokia, Ford, Asda, and Coca-Cola. He has appeared on six straight UK-version covers of Electronic Arts' FIFA series from FIFA 06 (2005) to FIFA 12 (2011). In October 2010, Rooney was dropped by Coca-Cola from one of its advertising campaigns in the wake of allegations about his private life.

On 9 March 2006, Rooney signed the largest sports book deal in publishing history with HarperCollins, who granted him a £5 million advance plus royalties for a minimum of five books to be published over a twelve-year period. The first, My Story So Far, an autobiography ghostwritten by Hunter Davies, was published after the 2006 World Cup. The second publication, The Official Wayne Rooney Annual, was aimed at the teenage market and edited by football journalist Chris Hunt. Rooney's third book, My Decade in the Premier League, was published in September 2012.

In July 2006, Rooney's lawyers went to the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organisation to gain ownership of the Internet domain names waynerooney.com and waynerooney.co.uk, both of which Welsh actor Huw Marshall registered in 2002. Three months later, the WIPO awarded Rooney the rights to waynerooney.com.

Paul Stretford controversy

In July 2002, while Rooney was with Everton, agent Paul Stretford encouraged Rooney and his parents to enter the player into an eight-year contract with Proactive Sports Management. However, Rooney was already with another representation firm at the time, while Stretford's transaction went unreported to the FA, and he was thus charged with improper conduct. Stretford alleged in his October 2004 trial that he had secretly recorded boxing promoter John Hyland (an associate of Rooney's first agent) and two other men threatening and attempting to blackmail him for an undisclosed percentage of Rooney's earnings.

Stretford's case collapsed due to evidence that conflicted with his insistence that he had not signed Rooney, and on 9 July 2008, he was found guilty of "making of false and/or misleading witness statements to police, and giving false and/or misleading testimony." In addition, the contract to which Stretford had signed Rooney was two years longer than the limit allowed by the FA. Stretford was fined £300,000 and banned from working as a football agent for eighteen months, a verdict he promptly appealed.

Stretford left Proactive in 2008 and took Rooney with him. Proactive later sued Rooney, claiming £4.3 million in withheld commissions. In July 2010, Proactive was awarded only £90,000 as restitution.

David Moyes

On 1 September 2006, Everton manager David Moyes sued Rooney for libel after the tabloid newspaper the Daily Mail published excerpts from Rooney's 2006 autobiography that accused the manager of leaking Rooney's reasons for leaving the club to the press. The case was settled out of court for £500,000 on 3 June 2008, and Rooney apologised to Moyes for "false claims" he had made in the book regarding the matter.